Spoils of War
by Savannah Silverstone
Summary: Set during the 57th expedition outside Wall Rose. When Levi took on a much riskier approach fighting against the female titan, many more lives were saved. Unfortunately though, many more sacrifices had to be made.


**You probably remember this story since I posted it not too long ago. Well, I reposted it. This time it was checked by a beta. I still hope you would point out any typos I may have and tell me what you think and whether I should continue it or not.**

"Head west, and once you're out of the forest, redeploy the formation! We're returning to Karanese district."

As a soldier, Levi was generally a submissive man when obeying orders from the higher ups, but being human, he didn't necessarily have to like all of it. That one order he'd received just a second ago was one of his most despised.

He had heard that order too many times, and every time, his thoughts always flew to his men who had died in vain in that certain mission, heck, to all the poor souls who had died in vain in every expedition they had ever done.

Commander Erwin, though, was a very intelligent man, and through years of experience, he was able to mold his own mind into something almost similar to a machine when it came to assessing most situations. That and the fact he was one of the most noble men in the military were two of the main reasons Levi held him at such high regard, and would never dare defy his orders.

Usually, when faced with those ambiguous situations where Erwin's orders and the deaths of Levi's men were at stake, Levi would just choose Erwin's side without putting up a fight, and instead grumble and mourn silently the lives of his men that were just wasted for nothing in return.

At that moment, Levi was doing just that as he glided through the woods. If it were up to him, he would have chosen to reunite with his squad first. When he separated from Erwin, one of the latter's last orders was for Levi to refill his tank before anything else. As always, Levi found himself following his commander and thus making his way to the supply squad.

Levi sensed an imminent danger looming over his men. It could be from his own thoughts, but seeing the Female Titan just disappear from under the many titans who ate her made him think.

The Female Titan would probably be lurking around the woods until she was able to do what she needed to do. She was intelligent and Leviwas pretty sure her goal wasn't as primitive as to just rampage and make the Survey Corps work harder for them. She must have another reason for doing just that. What is it? Levi thought.

The captain only needed one more clue to be able to answer the question himself, and as if on cue, a dead body that hung from a tree appeared in his line of vision.

Levi had the habit of turning his head the other way after looking at a body for more than a few seconds, since those kinds of scenes had the tendency to make his stomach turn and burn into his memory if he stared at them for too long. He couldn't look away, though, once he realized who it was.

It was the corpse of a member of his Special Squad. It was Gunther.

Levi trusted his special squad enough to know that none of them would have made such a stupid yet dangerous mistake as to be killed by an ordinary titan, so unless there was another abnormal titan on rampage, Levi was pretty sure he was killed by the Female Titan.

Despite his retching feeling, Levi went closer to the body of his fallen comrade to see that his death hadn't come from being crushed or half-eaten. There was a deep wound at the back of his neck, similar to one a soldier could give a titan.

Levi thought of his other squad members and Eren. The Female Titan didn't just kill Gunther because he was hanging around there or out ofself defense. She killed Gunther because he was in the way of her goal. Eren.

Eren was in danger. His whole squad was in danger.

BANG!

Levi almost jumped in surprise when he heard the familiar sound of a transforming titan and when he saw the lightning-like flash that came along with it.

At that point, Levi was torn between following the commander's orders and ordering his squad and Eren to retreat. If worse came to worst, his whole squad could be wiped out, Eren could turn and there would be a lot more casualties than what was first estimated. He checked his tank to make sure he had enough gas to make it to the source of the flash and back. He had more than enough. He could even go faster if he wanted.

That was what he intended. Levi glided forward at full speed, his eyes riveted on the location where the flash was a few seconds ago. As he got nearer, he started to hear the voices of his squad and the sound of the 3D maneuver gear running at full power.

"But who's gonna wait till she's done regenerating them?"

"We'll sever them completely!"

When Levi was close enough to be able to survey the scene, all he could do was stare in awe as he watched his squad cooperate andwork together to bring down that one titan powerful enough to have been able to kill a mass of their comrades already.

He hid behind the shadows of the trees as he watched them take down the titan. Seeing as his squad was already on the winning side, he guessed he wouldn't be needed in that fight.

He instead chose to watch in satisfaction as the Female Titan tried futilely to resist capture.

"Her arms fell down! Onto the neck!" Eld ordered. "If we sever the muscle holding the head up, we'll be able to get to the nape of her neck."

Levi would have been nodding in agreement at Eld's orders if he hadn't noticed that one of the titan's eyes was open, and she looked ready to bite off the head of anyone who got near her. Levi flew out of his hiding place in the trees.

"Wait! Don't!" Levi rammed into Eld, who looked more than ready to make the kill.

The two crashed into a nearby tree. Levi was seeing stars as they slid down the bark.

"C-captain!" Eld stammered in surprise.

"That was a stupid move. You could have died," Levi said sternly.

"Captain! Are you ok? That looked painful…"

Levi turned to that voice and saw Petra running to him, her face lined with worry, Oluo right beside her. Levi wanted to ask his subordinates so much about how they were able to incapacitate (or decapitate?) the titan, and at the same time, he wanted to praise them for their work. He most especially wanted to ask about Gunther, but as he saw arms of the Female Titan start to twitch, he realized there was no time.

There was no way the Female Titan would go down without getting Eren first, and probably take a huge chunk of the what was left of the Survey corps with her.

He was going to cut her open then and there.

But first, he had to get Eren out of there before the titan captured him, or worse, caused Eren to transform then capture him.

_Only one way to go from here_, Levi thought. He tried to push himself up, but to his surprise, there was a flash of white and he felt a hot pain in his lower chest.

"Captain! Are you hurt?" Petra asked as she bent down, ready to survey the injury.

"I'm fine," Levi answered stubbornly as he slapped Petra's hand away and stood up once again. "Besides, we have more important things to think about." He glared at the titan who was still recovering by the tree.

The truth was, though, he probably cracked a few ribs crashing into that tree. In other words, he was in no position to fight a highly intelligent titan. But when he thought of his squad and how the Female Titan could easily catch up to them, kill them, take Eren and cause much more of a disaster, Levi knew someone was going to have to keep the titan occupied, and that he was the one who was most likely be able to do it successfully and live.

He took a deep and painful breath as he watched the titan stand up slowly yet ominously. It's now or never.

"Petra, Oluo, Eld! Get Eren out of here and meet with the others outside the forest," Levi ordered with as much conviction he could muster with his already injured body.

Petra looked at her superior in disbelief. "Captain! What about you?"

Levi looked to his two other squad members who looked as hesitant as Petra.

"But captain, you can't—"Oluo started.

_I don't have the time for this,_ Levi sighed inwardly. "This is a direct order from a captain to his subordinates. No questions asked."

"But…" It was only Petra that time who hesitated.

Eld pulled her back and shook his head. "It's a direct order."

Petra wanted to say more, but when she saw that Levi had already gotten his gear ready, she knew he had already made up his mind, and usually, when he did, she would not be able to stop him anymore.

"Understood," she whispered mostly to herself. She overtook Eld and Oluo as they started their maneuver through the woods. Not wanting to think of the fight, Petra focused her thoughts on escaping from the forest on her gear. Even with her full effort, she found it impossible to block the distant sounds of Levi's 3D maneuver gear and the titan's footsteps.

She looked behind her to her two companions to see that they were just as torn as her with Levi's orders and their instincts.

Eld had his head down but the worry emanating from him could be traced from his unfocused eyes. To his left was Oluo, whose head was bowed down, concealing his face. That was enough for Petra to know that he was in deep thought, most likely thinking about the next titan he'd torture and kill if Levi didn't to make it.

_Don't think like that!_ Petra closed her eyes tight, trying to erase the image that had appeared in her mind. She could see Levi's lifeless body mangled and broken, a result that could happen with just one swift kick from the titan.

"You guys are ok!"

Petra was pulled from her thoughts by that young and familiar voice. "Eren!" she screamed in her surprise as the young soldier maneuvered beside her.

"What happened?" he asked. "Did you take it down? Did you find out who's inside?"

Eld shook his head, his face an unreadable mask. "Not really."

"But she's dead right?"

Oluo forced a laugh. "She will be soon – it's Levi she's going up against. No titan has ever lasted long against our captain. I'm sure he will have taken her down in a while."

His voice sounded so mechanical as he laughed and lightly explained the situation to Eren. At that moment, Petra wished that he would bite his tongue because even though she knew Oluo was just doing it to lighten the situation, it also felt as if he were mocking it too.

She looked to Eren's face and saw that he was actually convinced that Levi could take her down.

_Well he could. If he wasn't already injured_. Petra's thoughts flew back to when Levi crashed into Eld to stop him from taking the killing blow. She noticed that tiny movement the captain did as they crashed into the tree. He moved just enough so that Eld wouldn't get hurt and only he would feel the full impact of the tree. She also remembered when Levi tried to stand for the first time. It was likely a cracked rib but he still chose to fight.

She listened as Oluo continued his tirade on Levi's skill and watched as Eren's face grew more confident and hopeful. Petra's face twisted into a frown as she watched the scene go on for a few more seconds before she exploded.

"Shut up, Oluo! Stop trying to lighten the situation. If you won't tell the truth then I will." She gestured the three boys, or more specifically threatened them to stop on a large tree branch that was already close to the outskirts of the forest.

"Levi was injured yet he still chose to go against the titan to give us time to get away. Even if he is 'humanity's strongest' and 'the hope for mankind,' he is still human. " She turned to Eren, who was getting paler by the second. "In other words, he may die, and the reason why we're on our way back to regroup with the others instead of fighting alongside our captain is to protect you, because Levi thinks you're who the Female Titan is after."

The three squadmembers watched as Eren tried to let the truth sink in, and to their surprise, it was. Evident by how Eren's fist started to tighten, how his face got paler and how his eyes widened in horror. "Why aren't we helping him, dammit! Your captain and humanity's strongest soldier could be dying and you three are running away like cowards?!"

Petra stayed silent and watched as Eren let out his anger.

"Answer me! Why are all of you so silent when your leader may be dying at this moment!"

Eld sighed and put a comforting hand on Eren's shoulder. "You have to understand. Those were our captain's orders."

"Well, you know what? That's a really stupid move! I think a bunch squadmembers worth their salt would have actually tried to help their leader instead of following him like a blind camel!" He pushed Eld away. "Even if you're not gonna help him, I am!"

Eren was ready to jump deeper into the forest when he felt a tug on his arm.

"Wait! Don't you think that if Levi ordered it, it's for the best? I think we should trust—"

Petra was interrupted by a familiar shriek. She was sure it was the female roar rang through the forest. A loud bang came right after.

Captain! Petra froze as she imagined the many possible scenarios that could be a cause of those sounds, a huge chunk of them weren't good.

Eren was looking at the direction where that sound came from and she could feel his arm pull harder as it he tried to twist away from her grip. After a few more tugs, he was able to get out.

"Wait! Eren!" Petra called as she followed Eren through the woods.

I'm so sorry, she said silently. Her thoughts flew to the other squadmembers, who she knew wouldn't have wanted Eren to pull off such an impulsive and risky feat, especially against the orders of her superiors. Then her thoughts flew to Levi as she imagined the scolding she'd get when he found out that she had let go of Eren's hand on purpose when she heard the sounds.

_First things first, we're gonna have to make sure he gets out alive._

**What do you think? I may add some romance in the future so you can suggest or request whatever fluff you want! Some though, might just stay platonic fluff. **

**Please just tell me what you think through the reviews and what you can suggest! I have a story in mind already but a few more ideas here and there wouldn't hurt**

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter!**


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